Brazil – The National Wildlife Federation Bloghttp://blog.nwf.org
The National Wildlife Federation's blogThu, 08 Dec 2016 18:09:20 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1Achieving Zero Deforestation Agriculturehttp://blog.nwf.org/2016/09/achieving-zero-deforestation-agriculture/
http://blog.nwf.org/2016/09/achieving-zero-deforestation-agriculture/#respondMon, 19 Sep 2016 12:00:13 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=122559Since 1936, the National Wildlife Federation has worked to conserve the nation’s wildlife and wild places. As part of our 80th anniversary celebration, we are recognizing important moments in our history that continue to make an impact today.

What if civil society, non-profits, companies, and government were all on the same page about the value of nature and wildlife – and our collective responsibility to protect it? Would you wonder if it’s all just lip service or if there was real will to back it up? Well, that’s exactly what unfolded over the first two weeks of September at IUCN’s World Conservation Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Founded in part by the National Wildlife Federation in 1948, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a member union of government and civil society organizations that provides tools and knowledge showing how human progress, economic development and nature conservation can take place together.

Forest conservation and business engagement were both major themes of this year’s Congress, and the International Wildlife Conservation team co-hosted a side event (along with The Forest Dialogue, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and IUCN) that brought these two themes together. Our panel explored the opportunities, challenges, and lessons-learned from “Zero Deforestation Supply Chains”. The official event page is available here.

Following opening remarks from Moderator Jeff Milder, Chief Scientist at the Rainforest Alliance, NWF’s own Barbara Bramble kicked off the event with a high-level overview of the link between agriculture and forest loss and what companies and governments are doing to sever this link. Agriculture remains the primary driver of deforestation around the world, and every year, nearly 4 million hectares of tropical forests are cleared – an area about twice the size of Massachusetts or New Jersey – for agricultural commodities like cattle, soy, palm oil, and timber, pulp and paper. Collectively, deforestation and agriculture represent almost a quarter of global carbon pollution.

Fortunately, companies and governments – following prodding by civil society – are starting to take action. In 2014, over 50 major companies signed The New York Declaration on Forests, which includes an explicit private sector goal of eliminating deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities by no later than 2020, and ending all deforestation by 2030. In addition to saving invaluable wildlife habitat, full implementation of the Declaration would prevent the release of dangerous carbon pollution equivalent to removing one billion cars from the world’s roads. To date, over 360 companies have now put forth their own zero deforestation commitments.

Of course, defining what “zero deforestation” means in practice can be tricky, and Barbara shared several definitions being used by governments and industry, as well as several examples of what has worked well in Brazil: the Amazon Soy Moratorium and Zero Deforestation Cattle Agreements. While there is still much work to be done to completely sever the link between forest loss and commercial agriculture, there is mounting support for this goal from the private and public sectors. NWF remains optimistic that, through collective efforts, we can achieve an agricultural transformation that safeguards forests and wildlife.

Bald-headed Uakaris in the Western Amazon of Brazil are threatened by farming. Photo by Aaron Martin / Flickr Creative Commons.

Following Barbara, Marcelo Furtado, Executive Director of the Arapyaú Institute and representative of the Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests, and Agriculture shared insights into how a coalition of the willing in Brazil has helped to push the government to get serious about tackling deforestation. Business leaders recognized that Brazilian agribusiness would not remain competitive in global markets unless they were able to achieve low carbon production and ensure that robust social and environmental safeguards were in place. When the necessary regulatory framework wasn’t in operation, these leaders began lobbying for action rather than remaining paralyzed.

In addition to describing the goals of the Coalition, Marcelo also stressed that it is absolutely critical to engage the young people of the world and connect them with forests and farms. Only when they understand the complex connections between agriculture and forests – and know where their food comes from – will they embrace what it really means to achieve sustainability.

Representing the private sector, Dr. Helen Crowley, Head of Sustainable Sourcing Innovation for Kering (the parent company of luxury and lifestyle brands like Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Puma, and Volcom) expanded on the importance of definitions when discussing sustainability and zero deforestation. Building on Barbara’s and Marcelo’s talk, she too stressed that leadership is needed from the private sector, and shared that Kering is striving not only for zero deforestation, but also for no conversion of any natural ecosystem (along with other sustainability criteria like just and fair working conditions). She cautioned that businesses and NGOs should try to frame things more positively. As we move away from agricultural systems that degrade ecosystems, we should be moving toward those that create services and value for people, wildlife, and environment. In this way, we can shift the paradigm from “do less harm” to “do more good”.

Sumatran Orangutans are critically endangered, in part from land clearance for oil palm plantations in Indonesia. Photo by Shannon Hibberd.

Last, but certainly not least, Omer van Renterghem of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands represented the government perspective. Omer was an architect of the Amsterdam Declaration on palm oil (co-signed by Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Norway), which aims to support the European private sector in achieving 100% sustainable sourcing and trade, and increased traceability of palm oil by 2020. The Declaration stresses Europe’s “opportunity and responsibility to move the global economy to a more sustainable path.”

As the second largest global import market for palm oil, and the home of many large brands, Europe has an important role to play in the global movement toward zero deforestation palm oil. Omer stressed that through coordinated support from European Union nations, combined with additional support from other consumer countries and key private sector actors, we can eliminate deforestation and achieve sustainability in palm oil production.

The session ended on a tough question from the Moderator: How are we doing in our quest to meet the New York Declaration’s goal of eliminating commodity-driven deforestation by 2020? While there were varying degrees of optimism among the panelists about reaching the target on time, there seemed to be universal agreement that setting an ambitious goal had spurred accelerated action among governments and the private sector. To paraphrase a quote from Dr. Crowley: you can’t just have little halfway targets when fighting deforestation – climate, communities and wildlife simply can’t wait.

There’s a reason the purple martin (Progne subis) is known as America’s backyard bird. While summering in the U.S., purple martins nest almost exclusively near towns and cities, often in man-made birdhouses. The strikingly photogenic birds certainly earn their keep because their diet of mosquitos, flies, wasps, moths, and cicadas helps to keep these insects at bay around our homes.

When winter arrives in the U.S., purple martins head south in search of warmer weather, often flying over 4,000 miles to the reach the Amazon, where they continue to feast on insects until temperatures warm in the north. But sadly, purple martins and other migratory birds that rely on the Amazon for food and habitat are seeing forests disappear as they are cut and burned to create more space for agriculture.

Purple Martin Wintering Habitat at Risk

In the Amazon, the expansion of commercial agriculture – primarily for cattle – is the leading driver of deforestation. Cattle pastures now occupy more than 118 million acres of deforested land in the Amazon, an area larger than the entire state of California.

Brazil is a global powerhouse in cattle production. The country has one of the largest cattle herds in the world (over 210 million) and is also one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of beef. The Brazilian Amazon, which accounts for over 60% of the entire Amazon rainforest, has been one of the most active regions for deforestation and the expansion of cattle ranching, with about 60 million cattle occupying the area. Although the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has been reduced by nearly 80% since peak levels in 2004, the expansion of cattle pastures still remains the leading driver of forest loss in this region, and additional efforts are needed to effectively stop this destructive process.

This land use conversion, whereby large-scale areas of forest are cut, burned and cleared to make way for pastures used for grazing cattle, contributes to massive loss of wildlife habitat. Deforestation in the Amazon means that purple martins and other migratory species are losing habitat that is essential for their refuge and recovery during the cold winter months in the U.S.

Our Actions are More Relevant than Ever

Wildlife, deforestation, and cattle production in the Brazilian Amazon may seem like distant issues, far removed from any connection to our day-to-day decisions, but these connections are very real and the impacts that engaged consumers can make are quite significant.

Where is your beef coming from?

Until recently, it was highly unlikely that burgers and steaks purchased in the U.S. could have originated from the Brazilian Amazon, as beef trade between the two countries was limited to only processed products, such as beef jerky and canned beef. But a recent decision by the USDA to allow imports of fresh and frozen beef products from Brazil has changed this dynamic.

Within just a few years, the U.S. could be importing up to 100,000 tons of fresh and frozen beef from Brazil each year. This means that U.S. consumers could potentially be purchasing and consuming beef products linked to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and therefore inadvertently contributing to the demand for products that jeopardize wildlife habitat.

What You Can Do

Protect wildlife and habitat in the Amazon

Although a few companies have taken steps toward addressing deforestation for the beef products that they purchase, a scorecard recently released by The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) indicates that meaningful action among retailers and brands is extremely limited. According to UCS’s beef scorecard, “Cattle, Cleared Forests, and Climate Change”, all 13 major companies they evaluated lacked sufficient safeguards to ensure that the beef used in their products is not linked to deforestation. These companies include large retailers like McDonalds, Burger King, and Walmart.

The good news is that companies are responsive to the concerns of their customers. With the recent USDA decision, U.S. consumers now have a greater opportunity to encourage companies to adopt commitments to zero deforestation, ensuring that the beef they use in their products does not contribute to the loss of tropical forests and the destruction of wildlife habitat.

There are several ways that you can help encourage companies to adopt and implement commitments to zero deforestation beef products.

Ask companies simple questions like “Do you have a zero deforestation policy or commitment that covers cattle products?”

Purchase from companies that are making progress towards verified zero deforestation production. You can refer to the Beef Scorecard for more information.

Send a message (see examples below) to your favorite supermarket, restaurant, or brand on Facebook or Twitter and let them know that you do not want products that cause habitat destruction in the Amazon.

@____ there’s no place for #deforestation on our menus, we need stronger commitments to #zerodeforestation beef.

#Tropical #wildlife harmed so we can have a burger. @______ we need stronger commitments to #zerodeforestation beef.

Is #deforestation on your menu tonight? RT @_____ to tell them we want #transparency and #zerodeforestation beef on our menus.

By actively engaging with companies where you buy products, you can help protect tropical forests and ensure that critical wildlife habitat for the purple martin and other migratory and endemic species is safeguarded.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2016/09/how-engaged-consumers-can-help-protect-wildlife-in-the-amazon/feed/0Burgers and Wildlife: Let’s Hear From Youhttp://blog.nwf.org/2016/09/burgers-and-wildlife-lets-hear-from-you/
http://blog.nwf.org/2016/09/burgers-and-wildlife-lets-hear-from-you/#commentsWed, 14 Sep 2016 12:23:43 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=122162What if your steaks and burgers could be harming wildlife? The links between beef sold in the U.S. and wildlife habitat in distant parts of the world, like the remote rainforests of Brazil, may not always be obvious, but the connections are real and the impacts can be significant.

Migratory birds like the purple martin, one of America’s most loved songbirds, rely on tropical forests in the Amazon for wintering habitat. Unfortunately, millions of acres of the Brazilian Amazon have been cut and burned to make way for cattle pastures, destroying wildlife habitat and jeopardizing the fate of many endemic and migratory species.

But how is cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon connected to the steaks and burgers we buy? A recent USDA decision means fresh beef imported from Brazil will now be available in the U.S. This is a huge opportunity for consumers to encourage companies to adopt purchasing rules that help safeguard forests and protect wildlife habitat. Please help the National Wildlife Federation take on this serious threat to wildlife and rainforests by taking this quick survey!

Thank you for your valuable input! We appreciate your dedication to protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat.

Learn more about this recent USDA decision and ways to support “zero deforestation” beef products.

Learn More
]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2016/09/burgers-and-wildlife-lets-hear-from-you/feed/10Monumental Win: Amazon Soy Moratorium Renewed Indefinitelyhttp://blog.nwf.org/2016/05/monumental-win-soy-moratorium-renewed-indefinitely/
http://blog.nwf.org/2016/05/monumental-win-soy-moratorium-renewed-indefinitely/#respondWed, 11 May 2016 15:40:43 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=119643After years of repeated threats to dismantle this crucial agreement, the soy industry recently agreed to indefinitely continue the Soy Moratorium – a landmark initiative that has protected millions of acres of the Amazon from being converted to soybean plantations.

This agreement is a monumental win for wildlife, people, and our climate. The Amazon is home to an incredible array of wildlife, including iconic species such as macaws, jaguars, and ocelots as well as migratory birds that travel south for the winter, such as eastern kingbirds and peregrine falcons.

The Amazon Soy Moratorium is an agreement among major soybean traders to not purchase soy grown on land that was deforested after 2006 in the Brazilian Amazon. For nearly 10 years, the Amazon Soy Moratorium has effectively protected forests from being slashed and burned to make way for soybeans. But, despite these positive impacts, the Soy Moratorium was in jeopardy nearly every single year, requiring annual re-negotiations to renew it.

With each renewal also came another built-in expiration date, which continually threatened to jeopardize the future of the agreement, and the fate of critical wildlife habitat. Just a few years ago, the Soy Moratorium was in the cross-hairs, with some in industry pushing to dismantle key protections and effectively terminate the agreement. The recent announcement to continue the Amazon Soy Moratorium without a built-in expiration date means that the protections currently in place are no longer at risk each year.

Aerial view of the Amazon Rainforest, near Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Manaus is home to one of the largest soy ports in the Amazon, where millions of tons of Brazilian soy are transported around the world. Photo by Neil Palmer (CIAT)/ Wikimedia Commons

Amazon Soy Moratorium in Action

A study published last year by researchers from the U.S. and Brazil as well as policy experts from the National Wildlife Federation, demonstrated that the Soy Moratorium reduced deforestation for soy in the Amazon. Prior to the Soy Moratorium, nearly a third of new soy planted in the Amazon directly replaced forests, but under these current protections, this has fallen to less than 1%. This analysis provided clear evidence that the Soy Moratorium had been far more effective at stopping deforestation for soy than government policy alone, with farmers nearly five times more likely to violate the law than the Soy Moratorium.

Since the Soy Moratorium was implemented in 2006, Brazilian soy exports have more than doubled, and soy plantings in the Amazon have continued to grow, but not at the expense of forests. This demonstrates that it is possible to achieve win-win solutions for business and conservation.

The results from this study provided strong science-based evidence of the impacts and effectiveness of the Soy Moratorium, which directly informed NWF’s corporate engagement strategy and our discussions with companies. This research was used by NWF as well as many other organizations, government agencies, companies, and academics to help push for a longer term solution, which has culminated in the recent agreement to indefinitely continue the Soy Moratorium.

Celebrating Today, with an Eye on Tomorrow

The Amazon Soy Moratorium has been widely recognized for its role in reducing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. As one of the first large-scale solutions to agriculture-driven deforestation in the tropics, the Amazon Soy Moratorium has also helped pave the way for other important “zero deforestation” initiatives in the cattle and palm oil industries.

With the recent announcement of a more permanent agreement (that does not include an expiration date, and the associated fights for its renewal every year), the Brazilian soy industry can now turn its attention to adopting and implementing similar “zero deforestation” commitments for other important ecosystem, such as the neighboring Brazilian Cerrado (sehr-RAH-doh) and the Gran Chaco, which spans parts of Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.

The Cerrado and Gran Chaco are home to an incredible array of wildlife and represent important conservation targets. Halting deforestation and ensuring environmental protections in these regions will be critical in terms of maintaining healthy wildlife habitats, reducing the impacts of climate change and ensuring the long term viability of agriculture and other economic activities in these regions.

Please join us in celebrating this monumental win for wildlife by retweeting the following:

In September 2014, Cargill endorsed the New York Declaration on Forests, which was announced at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York City. The broad goal of the Declaration (signed by the National Wildlife Federation and almost 200 other organizations, companies, and governments) is to halve global deforestation by 2020 and eliminate it by 2030. But more immediately, it commits its signatories to “support and help meet the private-sector goal of eliminating deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities such as palm oil, soy, paper and beef products by no later than 2020, recognizing that many companies have even more ambitious targets.” The same declaration commends Cargill for adopting a zero-deforestation palm oil policy earlier that year – a palm oil policy that was “effective immediately”.

Clearly, I was expecting Cargill’s new umbrella policy to bolster this commitment and demonstrate how Cargill would put it into action – but as you may have guessed from my question above, I was sadly mistaken.

Wildlife Cannot Wait

Cargill’s new policy conveniently misinterprets the Declaration’s commitment to eliminate deforestation from supply chains by 2020, instead opting for 2030. Given the rapid and critical declines in wildlife and wildlife habitat, and accelerating climate impacts from deforestation (the world lost an area of forest last year the size of North Dakota!), an additional ten years is simply far too long! Some 125 million hectares of suitable land exists across the tropics, meaning that Cargill has every opportunity to act quickly, easily, and economically – especially given that their main competitors (such as major soy trader Archer Daniels Midland) are already figuring out ways to do it now.

In its Action Plan, Cargill states that it will give priority to tackling illegal deforestation first, and only then turn to address “legal deforestation” – but how long will that take? Can wildlife wait? Do orangutans, jaguars, elephants, and macaws care if the deforestation is legal or illegal if they no longer have a home?

Critically endangered Sumatran orangutan. Photo by Shannon Hibberd

To end on a high note – because it’s truthfully not all doom and gloom – Cargill has also managed to get a lot right, and in some areas, the policy represents an important improvement over business-as-usual. Their Action Plan for Palm Oil takes steps to implement their 2014 commitment to protect both “HCV” (or High Conservation Value lands, which house threatened and endangered species or provide important ecosystem services) and “HCS” (or High Carbon Stock areas, an even more comprehensive category of forest important for both wildlife and climate) and prohibits development on (carbon-rich) peat of any depth. It also provides protections for indigenous peoples and local communities.

On soy from Brazil, Cargill did the right thing by supporting the extension of the very important Amazon Soy Moratorium. But soy is actually grown in far greater quantities in regions other than the Brazilian Amazon, places like the Brazilian cerrado and Paraguay, where deforestation continues at an extremely high rate. Cargill should live up to its CEO’s commitment by extending the HCV and HCS protections in its palm oil policy to its soybean operations and other commodities as well. After all, as far as jaguars and sloths are concerned, it really doesn’t matter if a forest is being cleared for palm oil or soy or sugar – the important thing is that it’s being cleared.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2015/09/cargill-commits-to-save-jaguars-and-sloths-in-15-years/feed/0Songbirds, Migration and Soy: What’s the Connection?http://blog.nwf.org/2015/04/songbirds-migration-and-soy-whats-the-connection/
http://blog.nwf.org/2015/04/songbirds-migration-and-soy-whats-the-connection/#respondMon, 27 Apr 2015 19:09:40 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=105741Spring season is now in full swing, with bluebells blooming and daffodils dancing. And, even sweeter, there is the sound of songbirds singing.

Now is peak migration time for many of these songbirds and they and other neotropical migrants are finally returning north to their breeding grounds – your backyards and gardens included! Bird lovers and wildlife gardeners can plant native trees, shrubs and wildflowers to feed and provide nesting spots for birds close to home, but what about the state of the habitat these same birds need when they fly south? Many of these birds overwinter in the Amazon.

These species depend on forested habitats for food and shelter, but forests across the globe are disappearing at an alarming rate. About 30-37 million acres of forest are lost each year, the equivalent of 36 football fields per minute!

In the Amazon, large scale agriculture is one of the main driving forces of deforestation. These agricultural goods are used to produce much of our food, clothing, and personal care products – from leather handbags and shoes to beef jerky and lip balm. This also includes soy used in animal feed in Europe and Asia, which ends up as nuggets and sausages in grocery stores and restaurants around the world.

However, there is some good news for our migratory friends and for their forested homes down south.

NWF is leading the charge to help promote forest-friendly production for the key agricultural goods that are produced in the Brazilian Amazon. Just recently, NWF experts co-authored a new study that highlighted the effectiveness of a forest-friendly initiative focused on soy, known as the Soy Moratorium. The Moratorium was the first voluntary zero-deforestation agreement in the tropics, and it prevents major traders from selling soy that is linked to deforestation in the Amazon.

This agreement has been incredibly effective at safeguarding critical wildlife habitat against deforestation for soy in the Brazilian Amazon, thus helping to ensure that our migratory friends have a place to call home during the cold winter months in the United States.

According to the study, without the Soy Moratorium, almost 5 million acres of Amazon forest could be legally cleared for soy. In other words, 5 million acres of habitat for migratory birds could be lost. So, this is a big victory for our wildlife. Additionally, this new study helps reinforce the position that NWF has supported for years: maintaining and strengthening the Soy Moratorium (and other forest-friendly initiatives) is the best strategy to reduce agriculture-related deforestation and protect our wildlife.

While you work to improve wildlife habitat at home through our Garden for Wildlife program, we are also working to protect wildlife habitats around the world. You can join us in this effort by reaching out to the retailers and manufacturers of your favorite products to ask questions like: “Does your company have a policy on zero-deforestation?” and “From where do you source your raw ingredients?” Help start the conversation at the local level. Every little bit counts and, when the homes of our migratory friends are at stake, we need to do all we can to help save their habitats.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2015/04/songbirds-migration-and-soy-whats-the-connection/feed/0NWF featured in “A Fierce Green Fire” on PBShttp://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/nwf-featured-in-a-fierce-green-fire-on-pbs/
http://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/nwf-featured-in-a-fierce-green-fire-on-pbs/#respondTue, 15 Apr 2014 16:52:17 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=94344NWF’s own Barbara Bramble is featured in A Fierce Green Fire, which traces the history of the grassroots and global environmental movement in the 20th century and beyond. The film, which is directed by Mark Kitchell, was featured at the Sundance Film Festival, and the DC Environmental Film Festival last year, and is inspired by the book of the same name by Philip Shabecoff.

PBS will air the national premiere of A Fierce Green Fire on Earth Day, April 22 from 9-10pm.

A Fierce Green Fire is separated into 5 chapters or “acts,” each chronicling a different era of the grassroots environmental movement since it took off in the 1960s, and each highlighting a story of the times. The stories are both profoundly personal and global in their impact, with focus on such activism as blocking dam construction in the Grand Canyon, the chemicals of Love Canal, Greenpeace’s anti-whaling campaign and rainforest protection in Brazil, where NWF is showcased. Its concluding chapter follows the struggle to address climate change, which continues today.

NWF’s Legacy of Grassroots Environmentalism

The fourth chapter of the film focuses on Mendes and the Brazilian rubber tappers’ efforts to stop cattle ranchers from clearing the forest for pastures. As has been chronicled here before, NWF worked closely with Chico Mendes and other Brazilian rubber tappers, who peacefully put their bodies on the line to save the rainforest during the 1980s. This movement, and the uproar over Mendes’ assassination, pushed the environmental movement to a global scale. This chapter of the film concludes by highlighting recent grassroots environmental movements that are making a difference in developing countries.

This latest IPCC report also assures readers that ambitious mitigation action will barely make a dent in the global economy, without even taking into account co-benefits such as improved public health. We can’t make these cuts unless we communicate just how dire the situation is, and NWF continues to be on the front lines of informing Americans of the dangers of global climate change.

Speak up for Wildlife

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/nwf-featured-in-a-fierce-green-fire-on-pbs/feed/0Chico Vive: Chico Mendes and Grassroots Environmentalismhttp://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/chico-vive-chico-mendes-and-grassroots-environmentalism/
http://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/chico-vive-chico-mendes-and-grassroots-environmentalism/#respondThu, 03 Apr 2014 15:03:59 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=93809In the mid-1980s, the international environmental movement was in its infancy. Most international work focused on trade in endangered species and setting up protected areas, while grassroots environmental work focused on local issues. And while these approaches remain highly effective, there was little thought given to the impacts our lives made on the larger world outside of our communities.

That all changed 25 years ago, when a rubber tapper from the Amazon rainforest named Chico Mendes was killed by a rancher who had hoped to cut down the rubber tappers’ forest for his own cattle pasture. Because this humble rubber tapper was already known to many international journalists, his assassination made headlines the world around.

To commemorate the 25 years since Chico Mendes’ assassination, American University will host a conference, Chico Vive, from 4-6 April 2014. National Wildlife Federation is a cosponsor of the event.

The Man and His Work

Chico Mendes began his life as an ordinary rubber tapper near Xapuri, a small town in the Brazilian Amazon state of Acre. In the 1970s he began to organize his fellow rubber tappers, to free themselves from an ancient system of “debt peonage” to middle men; but he soon realized that the new expansion of roads and cattle ranching into the forest was destroying the rubber tappers’ livelihood. Tappers extract rubber from widely dispersed trees without harming them, just like maple syrup extraction, and they are dependent for their meager living on wide expanses of healthy forest. But from the late 1970s on, many areas of forest were being clear-cut for cattle pastures, which not only destroyed the rainforest but also the livelihoods of those who depended on it.

Chico Mendes would go on to help form the National Council of Rubber Tappers, and promoted the idea of “extractive reserves” – protected areas set aside for sustainable management by local communities such as rubber tappers. The Environmental Defense Fund and NWF brought Mendes to the United States in 1987, so that he could speak in front of Congress, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank on the subject of extractive reserves. Less than two years after his death, Brazil established its first extractive reserve – Reserva Extrativista Chico Mendes.

A Legacy of Global Grassroots Environmentalism

Chico Mendes’ life, and ultimately his death, catapulted the plight of the rubber tappers and other forest peoples into the world’s spotlight. He did more than just command attention, however; his concept of environmentalism as a human social issue spread throughout the world and is the root of modern day global environmental movements.

One of my earliest memories is watching a lighted digital counter at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo as it raced forward, the last digit moving so quickly that it froze on the number 8. This meter was measuring the acreage of rainforest left on Earth, in “real time” based on average rates of destruction. This meter, and our collective awareness of the continued loss of global rainforest, would likely not have entered our lives if not for Chico Mendes. For the first time, people around the globe saw the value of the Amazon for both the planet and themselves. In the years to come, those who had worked with Chico Mendes would gain a whole new group of colleagues eager to save the Earth and her rainforests.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2014/04/chico-vive-chico-mendes-and-grassroots-environmentalism/feed/0VIDEO – At Climate Talks, NWF Presses for Reduced Deforestation in Brazilhttp://blog.nwf.org/2010/12/video-at-climate-talks-nwf-presses-for-reduced-deforestation-in-brazil/
http://blog.nwf.org/2010/12/video-at-climate-talks-nwf-presses-for-reduced-deforestation-in-brazil/#respondFri, 10 Dec 2010 00:51:09 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/wildlifepromise/?p=9786In the past decade, deforestation has accounted for over 50 percent of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions and it’s the world’s third largest emitter of carbon.

Agriculture for things like cattle ranching and increasingly palm oil production have been the drivers for this calamity, and people like NWF’s Barbara Bramble are working to ensure an international climate treaty reduces deforestation.

Brazilian cattle ranching is incredibly carbon intensive, with a steak from a Brazil having a far higher carbon impact in contrast to a steak produced in the U.S. The same concept applies to leather. Meanwhile, demand for oils is increasing, as is the pressure to ramp up production in Brazil.

Barbara works to get more sustainable production, and she and her colleagues have made great progress over the years. Deforestation is on a downward trajectory, and with progress at Cancun expected this week, more headway will be made to monitor forests and slaughterhouses, and ensure enforcement.

Barbara took a few moments to talk about progress and concerns on these issues just before her ‘side event’ with scientists at the Cancun talks. Video below.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2010/12/video-at-climate-talks-nwf-presses-for-reduced-deforestation-in-brazil/feed/0Brazil’s Environment Head Says Amazon Deforestation Is Slowinghttp://blog.nwf.org/2009/09/brazils-environment-head-says-amazon-deforestation-is-slowing/
http://blog.nwf.org/2009/09/brazils-environment-head-says-amazon-deforestation-is-slowing/#commentsWed, 02 Sep 2009 04:34:33 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/wildlifepromise/2009/09/01/brazils-environment-head-says-amazon-deforestation-is-slowing/The CO2 emissions caused by deforestation make Brazil a top-tier global warming polluter that has been criticized for not moving more quickly to save its vast but diminishing Amazon basin forests. Intact forests absorb greenhouse gases but become emitters when they are cut, cleared and burned.

The Associated Press reports:

“Brazil’s environment minister says increased policing brought a sharp drop in Amazon deforestation over the past year, despite a jump in July. Environment Minister Carlos Minc says destruction in the 12-month period through July totalled 4,375 square kilometres (1,689 square miles). He says that is a 46 per cent decline from the same period a year earlier. Minc said Tuesday that deforestation during all of 2009 – forecast to be around 8,500 square kilometres (3,280 square miles) – will be the smallest amount in 20 years.” See full article.